Stairs
by snow winter
Summary: Who knew fumbling down the stairs would be this nice....especially when a certain Slytherin's there to break your fall. A short, one shot fic DMHG pairing. Read and Review!
1. Chapter 1

Hermione Granger staggered with the weight of fifteen books or more as she walks out of the library. With much effort, she glanced at her wrist watch that read, _11:23._ "God, I didn't notice the time, no wonder Pince's throwing me off the library. She fought to keep in balance as a book slips sideways. "Geez, that was close." She muttered as she treaded her way on the dimly-lit corridor. The torched were gleaming eerily, giving the deserted hall a haunted look; Hermione felt goospimples on her arms. "Maybe next time, I should ask Ron and Harry to accompany me if I want to stay up this late."

She reached a staircase. She gently turned sideways and gingerly puts her foot on the first step. As she reached the fourth step, she's already panting and a stitch is searing in her rib. "O-Oh, crap." She heaved a great sigh and proceeded on descending but something made her stop. Hermione glanced at the foot of the stairs wich was still a long way from where she is. She could have sworn she saw someone or something move down there. She calmed herself and shunted away the scary thoughts that's feeling her head. "It's nothing. Probably just Mrs. Norris, prowling down there." She assured herself and ensued on going down. But the oh-so-stubborn book started to slip sideways again and Hermione reeled to the right to stop it from falling, unfortunately, she was unsuccesful this time. She tripped on the hem of her robes and before she knew it, she was falling head-first through the stairs. She tried to scream but it seems as if a golf ball is stuck on her throught so she just closed her eyes and prepared herself for the painful impact. But she did not meet it. Instead, she heard a loud "Oof!" and felt something beneath her that broke her fall.

"Your a clumsy little Mudblood aren't you Granger?" Hermione recognized the arrogant voice and surely, when she turned to look at the one who spoke, she came face to face with Draco Malfoy, a painful smirk plastered on his face.

"M-Malfoy, what are you doing here?"

"I should ask the same thing to you Granger." He sneered. "And I can see from this position that you're really enjoying yourself."

Hermione lets out an audible gasp, she's still on top of Draco. She rashly got up and glared at him...

"Malfoy, you perverted jerk!" Her eyes flashed dangerously . "I have my own special reasons for being here."

"Whatever." He mumbled as he got up but winced, he clutched his rib. "I think you broke my rib Granger!"

"Wh-What?" She looked worried now and glanced at the spot Draco is massaging.

"You broke my rib!" He bellowed, glowering at her. He tried to get up again but he can't.

"Oh no, you have to go at the hospital wing." She said but made no attempt of helping him up.

"Well?" Draco impatiently stated.

"I-I can't take you there." She mumbled glancing at several books sprawled on the ground.

"I can't believe your thinking of books at the situation!"

"Fine!" Hermione cursed loudly as she got up and helped Draco on his feet and helped him walk to the hospital wing.

After a moment of silence...

"Thanks..." Hermione muttered. Draco looked at her, looking mildly surprised. "If it wasn't for, I'd have cracked my head open now. And I'm sorry, it's my fault your rib's broken."

Hermione looked sideways at him, expecting to see the famous Draco smirk. Now, it was her turn to be surprised, in place of a smirk is a smile, a genuine smile, the first one she ever saw in Draco's face. "I guess you owe me a Hogsmead trip then and a bottle of butterbeer."

Hermione merely chuckled and continued on walking, looking slightly flushed.

_"Maybe I should've majicked the book to fall when she's about 5 steps away from me." _He thought, tucking his wand inside his robe, grinning. _"Oh well, this is one way of asking her out...it's her fault anyway, making me wait outside the library for so long..." _

**END**


	2. EDITED VERSION, NOT A SEQUEL

**A/N: **THIS IS NOT A SEQUEL! I have been arguing with myself whether to remove this story, edit it, and upload it again or to +leave it as is. My friend keeps on nagging me to do the former 'cause the errors are irritating her (yeah, she's bossy and a pain in the ass, but I love her anyway). But I just can't hit the 'delete story' button so I decided to upload the edited version with the old one. So, this is not a sequel and I don't think I will upload a sequel for Stairs but hey, you'll never know. I hope I've eliminated most of the errors. Have fun :).

**STAIRS**

Hermione Granger staggered with the weight of fifteen books or more as she walked out of the library. With much effort, she glanced at her wrist watch that read, _11:23._ "God, I didn't notice the time, no wonder Pince's throwing me out of the library. She fought to keep in balance as a book slipped sideways. "Geez, that was close." She muttered as she treaded her way on the dimly-lit corridor. The torches were gleaming eerily, giving the deserted hall a haunted look; Hermione felt goospimples on her arms. "Maybe next time, I should ask Ron and Harry to accompany me if I want to stay up this late."

She reached a staircase. She gently turned sideways and gingerly puts her foot on the first step. As she reached the fourth step, she's already panting and a stitch was searing in her rib. "O-Oh, crap." She heaved a great breath and proceeded on descending but something made her stop. Hermione glanced at the foot of the stairs which was still a long way from where she is. She could have sworn she saw someone or something move down there. She calmed herself and shunted away the scary thoughts that were filling her head. "It's nothing, probably just Mrs. Norris." She assured herself and ensued on going down. But the oh-so-stubborn book started to slip sideways again and Hermione reeled to the right to stop it from falling, unfortunately, she was unsuccessful this time. She tripped on the hem of her robes and before she knew it, she was falling head-first through the stairs. She tried to scream but it seems as if a golf ball was stuck on her throat so she just closed her eyes and prepared herself for the painful impact. But she did not meet it. Instead, she heard a loud "Oof!" and felt something beneath her that broke her fall.

"You're a clumsy little Mudblood aren't you Granger?" Hermione recognized the arrogant voice and surely, when she turned to look at the one who spoke, she came face to face with Draco Malfoy, a painful smirk plastered on his face.

"M-Malfoy, what are you doing here?"

"I should ask the same thing to you Granger." He sneered. "And I can see from this position that you're really enjoying yourself."

Hermione lets out an audible gasp; she's still on top of Draco. She rashly got up and glared at him...

"Malfoy, you perverted git!" Her eyes flashed dangerously. "I have my own special reasons for being here."

"Whatever." He mumbled as he got up but winced, he clutched his rib. "I think you broke my rib Granger!"

"Wh-What?" She looked worried now and glanced at the spot Draco's massaging.

"You broke my rib!" He bellowed, glowering at her. He tried to get up again but he can't.

"Oh no, you have to go at the hospital wing." She said but made no attempt of helping him up.

"Well?" Draco impatiently asked.

"What?"

"What do you mean what?!" He snarled. "I can't even stand up straight Granger! D'you expect me to crawl there?"

"I-I can't take you there." She mumbled glancing at several books sprawled on the ground.

"I can't believe your thinking of books right now!"

Hermione huffed. "Well, how about starting on crawling, the hospital wing's pretty far from here."

Draco glowered at her.

"Fine!" Hermione cursed loudly as she got up and helped Draco on his feet. She then slung his arm on her shoulders and assisted him on walking.

After a moment of silence...

"Thanks..." Hermione muttered. Draco looked at her, mildly surprised. "If it wasn't for you, I'd have cracked my head open now. And I'm sorry; it's my fault your rib's broken."

Hermione looked sideways at him, expecting to see the famous Draco smirk. Now, it was her turn to be surprised, in place of a smirk is a smile, a genuine smile, the first one she ever saw in Draco's face. "I guess you owe me a Hogsmead trip and a bottle of butterbeer then."

Hermione merely chuckled and continued on walking, a blush slowly creeping on her cheeks.

_"Maybe I should've majicked the book to fall when she's about 5 steps away from me." _He thought, tucking his wand inside his robe, grinning. _"Oh well, this is one way of asking her out...it's her fault anyway, making me wait outside the library for so long..." _

**END**


End file.
